Earlier this week, the French deputy minister of ecology introduced a proposed law to ban the force-feeding of animals, and to help kick off the debate, he invited animal-rights activist Pamela Anderson to address ministers in Paris.
Anderson commenced her impassioned speech by recalling a time in her youth when Brigitte Bardot came to Canada to focus international attention on the slaughter of baby seals. She explained that it’s in honour of Bardot that she, as a Canadian, has come to France to voice her opposition to cruelty as severe as the massacre of baby seals: that of the foie-gras industry, which slaughters ducks and geese for another non-essential luxury product.
“Historically France has blazed a path on many fronts for human rights, for freedom, for conservation and the environment. Now is the time to champion the rights of animals to be free of suffering”, said Anderson. “I would like to respectfully request that France embrace the qualities of compassion, empathy and respect for the lives of animals.”